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The American Way

Somehow, I suspect that the following news headline wouldn’t be as palatable as this one:

“Federal Government Agents Tear Apart Families, Imprison the Innocent, and Labor to Increase Chicken and Turkey Prices”

Does raiding a chicken processing plant really pass the “smell test” as the “right thing to do?” For all the talk we are forced to listen to about America’s responsibilities as a world leader, and to make sure that we don’t sit idly by while billions of people are starving around the world, it is awfully hard to not get upset at this blatant disregard for human rights. The single most effective foreign aid program the world has ever seen is to allow poor citizens into rich countries.

But allowing “illegal” immigrants to come here to better themselves puts a face on world poverty – we tend to like poverty to stay where it belongs, out of our schools, out of our workplaces, out of our parks, and into some unfortunate country, far from our daily sight. Maybe the problem is not so severe if we are not constantly reminded of it.

Here’s a novel concept – it is morally inconsistent to funnel billions of dollars of “foreign aid” down the rathole of international government bureaucracies in the name of humanity, and then in the same breath to cast off as common criminals thousands of hard working men and women who are coming here to work in unpleasant jobs in order to make a better life for themselves. These “illegals” never once asked for a thing from us, in fact they are coming here to produce for us, to become friends to us, to become family with us, and to do for their children the very same things that our parents tried to do for them. Where is the humanity in this?

Want a win-win human solution to the subprime mortgage crisis? Let as many foreigners in as want to come, and let them live in the homes that have been abandoned and foreclosed upon.  Want a plan to revitalize dying cities like Rochester, NY? Simply turn Rochester into an “immigrant safe zone” where anyone can come to work, live and play without penalty. I’d be willing to bet a large sum that such a move would not only improve things a little bit, but that the city of Rochester would become the envy of many places like it.

One Response to “The American Way”

  1. Michael says:

    In addition to illegals, I would like to see ordinary Americans able to work without penalty. I recall a story from some folks in Hudson, NY wanting to open a concrete plant or something that was a manual labor intensive plant. Hudson decided not to allow it since it wasn’t the type of jobs they wanted. I guess I could mention payroll taxes, too.

    In other news, how about McCain’s plan to nationalize mortgages? That may have just tipped the scales for me to go Bob Barr.

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